Comparison

PDF Cabinet vs PDF Book Reader

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

PDF Cabinet

This application offers a streamlined PDF experience for reading and annotating documents. It focuses on essential features with an intuitive interface, making it easy to mark up PDFs, share annotations, and collaborate in real-time with others. Optimized for performance, it handles large documents efficiently.

Highlights
  • Effortless PDF annotation
  • Intuitive user interface
  • Fast document review with thumbnails
  • Annotations sharing
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Quick note taking
Features
Read full description

THINGS WE ARE PROUD OF - Really effortless PDF annotation - Only the most essential functionality - don't lose yourself in hundreds of buttons - Intuitive user interface that allows you to do exactly what you want - Fast and easy document skimming and review with thumbnails sidebar - Ultimate performance – optimized for really large documents (within reason, of course) - Annotations sharing - send annotated documents to anyone, and mark up will show up in any other reader - Interaction with other Cabinet users - send annotations only to your friends or colleagues using Cabinet – much faster, less traffic - Real-time collaboration with your friends or colleagues – annotate the same document together from several iPads EVEN MORE GREAT THINGS IN CABINET - Amazing and intuitive dynamic annotation menu - Empty notebooks for quick note taking or doodling - Pen and Paper Games for relaxing during non-working hours - Sending multiple documents attached in a single e-mail - Easy work with various document formats - such as .doc, .xls, .ppt and others Did we tell you already that Cabinet is really easy to use? Try it out yourself!

About

PDF Book Reader

Easily read, manage, and annotate PDF books and documents. This app offers a smooth reading experience, powerful annotation tools, and seamless cloud integration. Organize, search, and share your PDFs with ease.

Highlights
  • Natural PDF reading and navigation
  • PDF bookmarking and annotation
  • Text search and OCR extraction
  • PDF merging and page rearrangement
  • Cloud storage integration (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud)
  • File import and export via cloud and Files app
  • PDF sharing and printing
Features
Read full description

PDF Book Reader app helps you easily and naturally read PDF books and documents. It works as smooth as reading web pages in web browsers. PDF Book Reader is the best app to read, manage and annotate PDF Books and it works beautifully on iOS 14. The most powerful PDF Book reader, carefully designed and optimized specially for the iPhone & iPad. [ KEY FEATURES ] • Naturally read and navigate PDF books • Bookmark PDF e-Books • Annotate PDF e-Books • Search texts in entire PDF files • Extract texts by using OCR • Merge PDF files • Rearrange PDF pages by drag & drop • Connect with Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, Photos • Import files from Files, Photos, Google Drive, Dropbox • Automatically and securely save PDF files in Files app • Share PDF files via email, text (sms), cloud solutions • Print PDF files [ Upgrade to subscription version ] Upgrading to subscription version requires auto-renewal subscription. Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your App Store account settings after purchase. Links to Your Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://www.btoj.com.au/privacy.html http://www.btoj.com.au/terms.html Please feel free to contact us for anything.

Screenshots

PDF Book Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDF Cabinet at none against PDF Book Reader's 2. PDF Cabinet also leads on ads (none vs shown). PDF Book Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. PDF Book Reader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. PDF Cabinet asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.8 for PDF Cabinet against 3.9 for PDF Book Reader. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 56 and 31 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of PDF Cabinet's written reviews are positive against 61% of PDF Book Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Cabinet ships an update every 5 weeks, PDF Book Reader every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on July 5, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PDF Cabinet versus PDF Book Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF CabinetPDF Book Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (56 ratings)3.9 (31 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.1% of reviews — better61.1% of reviews
Number of ratings56 — better31
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBright Nine SIAB TO J PTY LTD

Customer experience

PDF Cabinet

All ratings55 ratings
Positive67.3%
Neutral10.9%
Negative21.8%
Written reviews127 reviews
Positive66.1%
Neutral14.2%
Negative19.7%

PDF Book Reader

All ratings31 ratings
Positive74.2%
Neutral3.2%
Negative22.6%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive61.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative38.9%

Bugs and requests

PDF Cabinet

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Randomly deleting files
  • Sync issues causing loss of annotations
  • Crashing when opening large documents
  • Navigation problems when zoomed in
  • Annotations not exporting properly

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add more highlighter and pen color options
  • Implement palm rejection for Apple Pencil
  • Add ability to resize and move annotation tools
  • Improve cloud/sync functionality (iCloud, Dropbox, etc.)
  • Implement vertical scrolling for continuous reading
Show 2 more
  • Add text box annotation feature
  • Improve export/sharing options for annotated documents

PDF Book Reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

PDF Cabinet

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

PDF Book Reader

Subscriptions2
  • 1 Month Subscription$3.991 Month
  • 1 Year Subscription$28.991 Year

Questions

Is PDF Cabinet free?
PDF Cabinet is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PDF Book Reader free?
PDF Book Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDF Cabinet or PDF Book Reader?
PDF Book Reader is rated higher. PDF Cabinet averages 3.8 out of 5 from 56 ratings, while PDF Book Reader averages 3.9 from 31 ratings.
Do PDF Cabinet or PDF Book Reader have ads?
PDF Book Reader shows ads; PDF Cabinet does not.
Which is updated more often, PDF Cabinet or PDF Book Reader?
PDF Cabinet ships an update every 5 weeks, and PDF Book Reader every 5 days. Most recently, PDF Cabinet was updated on July 5, 2026 and PDF Book Reader on September 13, 2026.

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